Liberty Victoria recognizes the significant value of committal proceedings and the role they play in ensuring adequate disclosure, promoting the early resolution of cases before the courts, minimizing impact on vulnerable witnesses and ultimately easing pressures on the criminal justice system. Such proceedings enable an accused person to be apprised of the case against them and assess the strength of the evidence, but also give the prosecutor an opportunity to properly evaluate the case that has been assembled.

The Bill seeks to amend the Migration Act 1958 (the Act) by introducing a twelfth set of circumstances in which a person will necessarily fail the character test enunciated at s.501(6) of the Act: where they have committed a ‘designated offence’.

Liberty Victoria recommends the Bill not be passed. 

These amendments seek to impose a lifetime ban on obtaining a visa (for people who arrived by boat after July 2013) to travel to or remain in Australia, subject to a personal non-compellable non-delegable exemption power of the Minister.

We recommend the Bill not be passed. 

Our principal concerns with the Bill can be summarised as follows:

a. No compelling case has been put forward by the Government to justify the proposed amendments, and they are entirely unnecessary and disproportionate;

b. The proposed amendments would entrench the separation of families;

Liberty Victoria, in conjunction with Ashlea Johnson - a transgender Melbourne woman - fully support amendments to the law to allow transgender, gender diverse and intersex Victorians to record their preferred gender on their birth certificates. 
We provided this briefing paper to provide background to the issue, and a summary of the basis on which we support the reforms.  Liberty Victoria is delighted that the reforms have passed.

We have had the opportunity to consider the detailed submission of the Criminal Bar Association of Victoria, and we respectfully endorse it and its recommendations. In particular, we endorse the submission that there should be fault elements that must be proved to establish breaches of prohibitions and restrictions on publication under the law of contempt, the Judicial Proceedings Reports Act and the Open Courts Act (see paragraph 55, 68 and 106 of the Criminal Bar Association’s Submissions).

Liberty Victoria continues to oppose the  of the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill 2015,  in light of their subsequent operation. While limited public information is available about the application of the provisions, we understand that a number of individuals have had citizenship stripped under section 35 of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) (Citizenship Act).

We express particular concern over the establishment and operation of the  Citizenship Loss Board, which represents a threat to the rule of law and basic civil liberties.